Having created a template menu-based disk with scene markers, I was puzzled when I reopened the working file the next day and found that the "Movie Title" that I had put on the main title page, and that was on all the subsequent "Scenes" pages, had disappeared, only to be replaced with the standard template "Movie Title Here" text box. This, even though I had saved the file several times before exiting previously. Can anyone explain this anomaly, since it took considerable time to rewrite every transition in the film.

Also, I notice that even though the text boxes allow for different font sizes, I have noticed that after I have sized everything, and centered text boxes on each template slide (and saved the file), when I come back to the disk menu work space after going to the editing space, I find the fonts have gotten larger and the text boxes no longer centered, running off the right margins.

It seems the menu function has a mind of its own and simply does what it wants. There is minimal control over the text functions within the program, unfortunately, and everything (like centering boxes(must be done manually. The printed pdf manual is unclear on some of the commands. I have no idea, for example, what the manual means when explaining the "Apply To All Text Buttons" feature. Huh?

I find the PE 8 manual not very helpful nor always clear in that it doesn't go into great detail on how to use some of the program's capabilities. I suppose one should check out third-party manuals to supplement the Adobe effort, which is far from satisfactory. There's not much on YouTube, either, when it comes to focusing on specific tasks like menu creation and working with texts.

I am with Steve on this odd behavior. I have never read of it happening.

Now, starting at the beginning, the Menu Set (both a Main Menu and a Scene Selection Menu, that might be duplicated, as many times as is needed to accommodate the number of Scene Markers) Templates are not modified in any way, when you edit them in PrE. The actual Menus (PSD Photoshoop files, but with specific Layer Sets to create Buttons) remain, untouched. The changes that you make are just references to the changes, and stored in the PREL (Project) file. When you do a New Project, and use the Templates again, they will be in their unaltered form, and will not reflect any modifications that you made in PrE, in a previous Project. To actually change the Templates (PSD files), you would need to Open them in Photoshop/PSElements, make the changes there, and then Save (overwriting the Template files) those changes.

Something is getting in the way, with the Saving of your changes to the PREL file. I just cannot imagine what that "something" is.

I would conduct a series of quick tests:

In PrE, make the desired changes to the Menu Set selected in the Create Menus.

Do a Save_As_a_Copy, locating that new PREL, where you can find it, and naming it something that you can instantly recognize as the Save_As_a_Copy file.

Save your Open Project.

Close your Project.

Exit from PrE.

Launch PrE

Open the Save_As_a_Copy PREL (Project) file.

Check whether the changes have "stuck."

Test # 2:

In PrE, make the desired changes to the Menu Set selected in the Create Menus.

Save your Open Project.

Wait about 10 minutes, to make sure that AutoSave has run. Just get a cup of coffee.

Close your Project.

Exit from PrE.

Launch PrE

Navigate to the AutoSave folder (should be in the Project's folder structure, unless you changed that location in Edit>Preferences).

In the Finder, change the View to Details, so that you can see the Date/Time of the files. Note: AutoSaves are FIFO (First In/First Out), and when the chosen number of AutoSaves (5 by default, unless changed) is reached, the oldest will be rewritten, so # 3 might be newer than # 5.

Open the latest AutoSave PREL.

Check whether the changes have "stuck."

Unfortunately, the two tests will not tell us what is happening, but will tell us if the changes ARE being Saved with other methods.

I wish that I had more to offer, or even any constructive thoughts on exactly WHAT is happening, so we could address the WHY.

Thanks to you and Steve Grisetti for responding to my niggling problem(s). I fired up PE 8 this morning and saw that my template menus were all OK, which is a blessing. I did purchase PE 10, along with, pari passu, upgrading my main disk drive to 1.5 TB, and added another 4 GB of RAM, which maxes out my motherboard at 8 GB. The processor is an Intel Core 2 Quad running at 2.66 MHz. This has made a big difference, since I have noticed that now, PE 8 no longer crashes every so many minutes as it used to (OK, it crashed twice over a period of several hours). The two-hour film project has now been completed, and I will burn a DVD to see how this menu-driven project turns out. It gobbles up 7.9 GB in content, however, so I will have to use a DL disk for the highest quality.

I will also buy Steve's book on PE 10 for a brain boost on the latest version, which I will use for future projects. After checking at Amazon, it seems that Steve is a virtual book factory on these products.

Thanks again for your helpful suggestions. I'm sure I will be back for more.

I still cannot imagine why your changes did not "stick." I've read of several problems with PrE Menu Sets (seems that PrE 8 & 9 had more than their share?), but yours is unique, at least to me.

Along with Steve's PrE 10 book, I also recommend his Tips & Tricks book. It was written for slightly earlier versions of PrE, but other than a tiny bit of interpolation, will work for PrE 10 too. The "tips & tricks" are mainly useful "concepts," and only maybe one "mechanical" step will need to be changed, if at all.

Good luck, and hope that the Project will burn to a DVD-9 perfectly. Remember to use the highest quality blank media possible. For DVD-9 (DL), I use only Verbatim blank media, and have never had even one return. While all certified DVD players (with the DVD logo) must play DVD-9's, that is for commercially pressed replicated discs. Some older players have issues with ANY burned DVD-Video, and struggle with any burned DVD-9.

I agree. Verbatim is the only way to go. I had terrible experiences with Ritek DLs, so many coasters burned that I sent them back for a refund. Only one Verbatim failed, over a several year period, and that was probably the software's fault.

Once, Ritek manufacturered their own discs, and they were high quality. While they still produce some, it seems that they have adopted the "Memorex business model," where they buy the cheapest discs that day, and just rebrand them. The same happened with TDK, which was once a respected producer.

For DVD-5's, I use both Taiyo-Yuden and Verbatim, and some strongs recs. have been coming in for Falcon Pro media. For DVD-9's, I stick with the Verbatim discs, and have yet to encounter an issue.

As I am on my last spindle of T-Y DVD-5's, I will give the Falcon Pro a test, and will report.